Stolen Tongues ⭑⭑⭑⭒
Genre: Horror
US Publication: June 27, 2017
Print: 320 pages
Audio: N/A
Confetti Rating: 3.5 stars
REVIEW:
Of the 20+ reading-related Facebook groups I’m in, the “Books of Horror” community is by far the most active, harmonious, and supportive. One by one, members started reading and raving about Stolen Tongues, Felix Blackwell’s self-published, crowd-funded horror novel that originated as a super popular series of stories titled “My Romantic Cabin Getaway” on the NoSleep Subreddit. It’s a viral sensation that’s gone viral again.
It’s also better familiarized me with the term “creepypasta,” which my trusty pal Wiki defines as: “Horror-related legends that have been copied and pasted around the Internet. These Internet entries are often brief, user-generated, paranormal stories intended to scare readers.”
And yes, Stolen Tongues did scare this particular reader. Based on Blackwell’s fiancee’s sleep disorder, the story follows the couple as they visit a snowy cabin in the woods where creepy voices and happenings plague them at night. The prologue itself is near perfection, and I read it twice. I also had a hard time reading the book before bed, because it’s that unsettling. Not in a splatter/gory way, but just spine-tingling.
There’s no escaping the fact that Stolen Tongues is self published though, and the absence of an editor’s polish is noticeable. In many ways it reads like a first draft, but there is a whole lot of promise here.
Finally, for my indie author friends (or aspiring ones), I thought it would be helpful to share parts of a post Felix made in the Books of Horror FB group last month:
“Today my novel Stolen Tongues hit 500 ratings/reviews on Amazon. Before it was discovered by Books of Horror, it sat at around 170. This is a huge deal for me, considering that less than 10% of people who buy a book leave a review for it (or so I've read)…
…Authors don't do this very often, but I want to give you some transparency into how your support has directly affected my life as an indie author. About 11 months ago I bought a new bed for me and Faye, and it turns out I bought the worst piece of crap ever because it imploded and became a hammock about a month ago. If you've ever slept in a terrible bed, you know how much it can affect your work ethic, your mood, and your body. We started crunching numbers and trying to decide if we could afford a new one. Books of Horror bought us that new bed, and this time I did the research and got the RIGHT one…
…Your support has also secured several months of the SHOCKINGLY expensive medication I take for a chronic nerve disorder. That feeling of security is invaluable to me, and combined with the new bed, I'm actually able to sleep at night and have the hideous dreams that inspire all my writing…
…I want to share some of the feedback I've gotten on Stolen Tongues, and how I grapple with it. People have said that the book is:
-too long
-too short
-super scary
-not scary at all / boring
-too many info dumps / over-explaining
-classy
-tasteless
and:
-not enough is explained
-the end sucks
-the middle sucks
-not gory enough
-the characters are overwritten
-the characters are underdeveloped
etc.
This cross-section of opinions has really revealed to me that as a writer, you'll never be able to please everyone, so you must write with the goal of telling the story that YOU want to tell.”
PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:
A romantic cabin getaway doesn’t go exactly as planned.
High up on the windswept cliffs of Pale Peak, Faye and Felix celebrate their new engagement. But soon, a chorus of ghastly noises erupts from the nearby woods: the screams of animals, the cries of children, and the mad babble of a hundred mournful voices. A dark figure looms near the windows in the dead of night, whispering to Faye. As the weather turns deadly, Felix discovers that his terrified fiancée isn’t just mumbling in her sleep – she’s whispering back.
Originally a contest-winning story on reddit.com’s horror community NoSleep, Stolen Tongues has received widespread acclaim and is now being adapted into a feature film.